Sources familiar with the matter said on Monday that Anglo,
one of Australia's top coal producers, was among suitors
looking at Macarthur's finances.

But they said it would not necessarily move forward with an
offer to challenge the $5 billion bid currently on the table
from long-time suitor Peabody and partner ArcelorMittal
, which owns 16.1 percent of Macarthur.

The sources played down newspaper reports of a possible
tie-up between Anglo and China's Citic, Macarthur's biggest
shareholder, as premature, though analysts and others in the
industry said that would be a good move from Anglo if it was to
move forward and succeed in beating Peabody's offer.

Citic has not declared where it stands on the bid,
despite market speculation it is opposed to Peabody's offer and
could back a rival suitor. It has held talks with the
Peabody camp, one of the sources said.

Citic has a 24.6 percent stake and was a major stumbling
block in 2010, when Macarthur was the subject of a three-way
bidding war that also included Peabody.
Continued...